FILE – The Coco Palms Resort retail annex where one shop on the second floor was gutted by fire in Wailua on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, is pictured on Dec. 3, 2009. Demolition will soon begin on the resort once favored by both Hawaiian and Hollywood royalty before it was heavily damaged by a hurricane three decades ago. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Coco Palms Resort on the island of Kauai will be torn down for a new 350-room hotel. Construction is expected to take about three years. (Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island via AP, File)

HONOLULU (AP) — Demolition will soon begin on a resort once favored by Elvis Presley and other Hollywood royalty before it was heavily damaged by a hurricane three decades ago. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Coco Palms Resort on the island of Kauai will be torn down for a new 350-room hotel. Construction is expected to take about three years. The resort is where Elvis Presley and Joan Blackman’s characters married in the 1961 movie “Blue Hawaii.” It was frequented by Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Bing Crosby. The 46-acre grounds were once home to Kauai’s last queen. A cultural center is planned to honor the property’s history.